CFCC students embrace sustainable technology

From tiny houses for humans to dog houses made of hemp, Cape Fear Community College students are learning better ways to build. (Source: WECT)

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) -

From tiny houses for humans to dog houses made of hemp, Cape Fear Community College students are learning better ways to build.

CFCC's John Wojciechowski talked with WECT's Ashlea Kosikowski for First at Four about the school's sustainability technologies program and how it can help lessen negative environmental impact.

"It's rooted in environmental science and sustainability," Wojciechowski said. "We focus on the technologies of making our infrastructure and buildings high performance and also making our energy sector move into more of a renewable energy and energy efficient future."

The tiny house movement has gained popularity in recent years and that popularity combined with small homes leaving less of a carbon footprint make it a sought-after topic in Wojciechowski's classes.

"A couple of them took it upon themselves to build a tiny house," Wojciechowski said. "Students are really learning valuable lessons about managing projects and along the way, they're working with the right materials and learning how to use tools and just build things."

Wojciechowski also showed off a dog house students made with hemp. He said there are many benefits in using hemp for building projects, not the least of which is its environmentally-friendly nature. He explained that hemp is carbon neutral.

"We used hemp for so many things years ago and it fell out of favor and nobody really used it," he said. "It's coming back in because we are searching for building materials that perform better and have a much better environmental footprint. Hemp is almost the perfect building material."

Learn more about the sustainability technologies program by clicking here.

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